Semiconductor light emitting devices, such as Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) or laser diodes, are widely used for many applications. As is well known to those having skill in the art, a semiconductor light emitting device includes one or more semiconductor layers that are configured to emit coherent and/or incoherent light upon energization thereof. It is also known that a semiconductor light emitting device generally is packaged to provide external electrical connections, heat sinking, lenses or waveguides, environmental protection and/or other functions.
For example, it may be desirable to redirect the light that is emitted by a semiconductor light emitting device from one direction to another. In some applications it may be desirable to redirect light that is generally emitted in a direction perpendicular to the emitting surface of the semiconductor light emitting device (generally referred to herein as “vertical”) to a direction that is generally parallel to the emitting surface of the semiconductor light emitting device (generally referred to as “horizontal”). It also may be desirable to reorient the light over 360° in the horizontal direction. Such redirected light may be useful in backlighting applications, such as backlighting for Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD) or “glowing wall” types of lighting applications.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,607,286 to West et al., entitled “Lens and Lens Cap with Sawtooth Portion for Light Emitting Diode” describes in the Abstract thereof, that a lens mounted to a light emitting diode package internally redirects light within the lens so that a majority of light is emitted from the lens approximately perpendicular to a package axis of the light emitting diode package. In one embodiment, the light emitted by the light emitting diode package is refracted by a sawtooth portion of the lens and reflected by a total internal reflection portion of the lens.
Moreover, U.S. Pat. No. 5,638,469 to Feldman, et al., entitled “Microelectronic Module Having Optical and Electrical Interconnects”, describes various techniques for redirecting optical beams using holograms and/or mirrors, and solder bumps for alignment and/or electrical connections.